Monday, February 25, 2013

Lent, Week Two: Give a Little Whistle

Big sister: "William, I thought you gave up chocolate milk for Lent!"

William: "Well, that was just for the first day."

Big Sis: "You can't do that.  That's not how it works. You're breaking the rules."

William: "No I'm not. I'm giving up something different today."

Sis: "What?"

William: "Chai.  I'm giving up chai.

Sis: "You hardly ever have chai anyway.  You have to give up something that it bothers you not to have.  And it should bother your conscience to cheat on what you give up."

Pause...

William: "I'm giving up Lent."






Around the table on St. Valentine's Day.
Any girls with four big brothers should know how to whistle like this.
This is how you do it.  Seal your fingers together, making sure
there aren't any holes for air to leak out of.  Bend your
thumbs and blow into them kinda how you whistle
over the top of a soda bottle.

 Cathy can do it.  No trouble.

 Try it, Anna.
 Not working.
 Still no sound.
 Is there a hole?
Is this right?
 Still no whistle.  Just air.
 Ah, well.  If I need to call Jiminy Cricket,
 I'll just hollar for him.

And I'll step on him.


Thursday, February 14, 2013

To All Our Musical Valentines!

(And you know who you are!)

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Though saecular-minded features far out-distance them, I've run across several articles and blog posts reminding us to keep the saint in St. Valentine's Day. And, don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see these reminders, but, I don't think the wine and roses ads or even the deluge of cartoon pink and red Valentine cards in the seasonal aisle at Walmart are an evil thing necessarily.

I do imagine any one of the three St. Valentines of the first centuries of the Church would be shocked to know that this day had become the holiday dedicated to romantic love ~ in their name. And, while the whole Cupid bit and the pink hearts would undoubtedly cause some raised eyebrows amongst the group of them watching us from the Heavenly Court (coffee cups in hand), I imagine that the concept of the day wouldn't upset them too much. Love, true love, in its pure form of Christian charity, in the commitment between a husband and wife, or even in the hopes of young people looking for mates is never a bad thing.

It was the hope of the Church in its early days to supplant pagan practices, introducing Catholic feasts and customs which would change evil habits into good ones. It may be that the love-connection to St. Valentine's Day resulted from a desire to replace the pagan celebration of Lupercalia which in ancient days occured around February 14th. Unfortunately, it's true that most do not connect the lives of the saints with this feast day (Alas!), but it's also probably true that the Church did intend for this feast day to maintain an innocent flavor of love and courtship.

And, though none of the St. Valentine's stories appears to have any verified story involving young love or matchmaking, the pairing of the love theme with these men is not really so incongruous. All three of the Valentines whose legends survived the centuries were martyrs. And, Heaven knows, nobody understands true love like the martyrs. Their love imitates Christ's most closely in its completeness. And while St. Raphael is the saint who owns the distinction of being the heavenly matchmaker, any one of the St. Valentines, as a model of the most perfect love, serves just as well as a patron for earthly love. The saints are not exclusive that way. St. Raphael, the matchmaking patron, won't mind a bit, to be sure,  if we speak to St. Valentine today ~ to pray for loved ones, to love our loved ones better, or to seek a match if we haven't got one already. And, there is no question that St. Valentine (any one or all of three!) will do what he can for us!

Prayer to St Valentine

O glorious advocate and protector,
St Valentine,
look with pity upon our wants,
hear our requests,
attend to our prayers,
relieve by your intercession the miseries
under which we labour,
and obtain for us the divine blessing,
that we may be found worthy to join you
in praising the Almighty for all
eternity: through the merits of
Our Lord Jesus Christ.



* Lazy Blogger's repost from 2009  (29 posts to go...)
Amen.

Monday, February 11, 2013

Fat and Happy on Fat Tuesday

So, there is a school of thought out there that celebrating Mardi Gras (French for Fat Tuesday) is a not-very-Catholic thing to do -- and mumblings and whispers and sometimes sneers -- that the very word "carnival" implies sins of "the flesh."  And, well, I guess this feeling of "taintedness" is understandable, seeing as this pre-Lenten festival has been an excuse for debauchery for hundreds of years.  We all know how in New Orleans and Rio deJanero and other places in the Latin world especially, the day before Ash Wednesday has become a free-for-all, an excuse to flout the Commandments -- and good  common sense.... Shame on them!  It's especially irritating when people who don't even sacrifice for Lent have the nerve to celebrate during Shrovetide!  They're missing the whole point. 

Montgomery Clift in I Confess
 -- Great movie!

 "Shrovetide"  is the alternative name for Fat Tuesday  and comes from the words meaning to be shriven or confessed, which is what Catholics traditionally do on the Tuesday before the beginning of Lent. We're preparing.  And, along with going to Confession in order to enter the Lenten season with sparkling clean souls, we look ahead to the penitential season with an eye to what we'll be offering up to further prepare for the glorious feast of Easter.  All the talk in Catholic circles right now is about what we'll be "giving up."  Who is going to take the plunge and give up coffee?  Or sweets?  Will we turn off the TV?  Should we observe a blog "silence" for the forty days?   And today, Shrove Tuesday, is the last day to make up our minds and indulge in our soon-to-be-sacrificed pleasures. 

There are certainly people -- nay, cities -- nay,  whole countries! -- who use today's celebration as an excuse to sin,  but it's not anti-Catholic or evil to look ahead to a proper observation of Lent and take a day or two to enjoy the things we'll soon be giving up.  Case in point: the word "carnival" originally came from the Italian word carcarnevale -- which means "to put away the meat" -- which is what we're getting ready to do.  The traditional observation of the Lenten season requires those over seven years of age (and under sixty) to partially abstain from meat every day of the week except Sunday, and all day, as usual, on Fridays.  That means meat is allowed only at the main meal of the day.  And everyone over twenty-one and under sixty fasts: we don't eat between meals and of the three meals in a day, the main meal should equal the size of the two smaller meals together. It's tough!  I know I, for one, am looking forward to it as a challenge and a chance for grace, but -- well: Ugh! So, on the days before Lent, I have purposely crammed in as much meat into every meal as I could. As well as pigging out between meals and guzzling coffee...   Why? Well, duh! Because I can!  Until tomorrow.

 Sigh....

When I will happily and voluntarily give it all up.

But -- anyway -- today is Fat Tuesday and the name of the game is to celebrate while we have a chance! To say goodbye to meat, goodbye to snacking -- and for us, goodbye to DVDs and Wii and desserts.  And for me, goodbye to coffee and slacks and sleeping in past 7 a.m.  (Even on Saturdays -- sigh -- which may kill me!)  It certainly does not mean going to New Orleans or any local pub, either, and behaving like a fool.  But it does mean that we are playing Mariocart and watching movies and eating sweets -- between meals, mind you -- until midnight tonight.  And there will be pancakes and bacon for dinner. 

Lent is a good time. An important time. It's one of the most productive periods of the year for spiritual growth. A time of consciously disciplining ourselves for love of God in memory of Christ's sacrifice for us. It's a cleansing time, a time of recollection.  It's all good.  But, let's be real about this. If you enjoy Lent, you're not doing it right!


Fun Things To Do Before Tomorrow!

* Even if you can't pack up and do it yourself, at least run over and check out all the fun going on with the Shrove  Hunters.

* Here's a Pancake maze to print out for the kiddos.

* Bake some Polish Packzis!  Or Pennsylvania Dutch Fasnachts!  Or Swedish Fastelavnsboller ! (If you're really lazy or pressed for time, try some "cheater Packzis"...)

* Fry up some pancakes and bacon!  Because fats, eggs, milk, and butter were at one time abstained from in Lent, as well as meats, this combination became the traditional "farewell" dinner for Shrove Tuesday.  And the kids love it!  (But you may have to have them run around the block a couple of times to get them to burn off the sugar rush before bedtime!)

* Then take some time to contemplate and discuss with the children the gravity of the coming season and the wisdom of the Church in  "that wonderful, eternal rhythm of high and low tide that makes up the year of the Church: times of waiting alternate with times of fulfillment, the lean weeks of Lent with the feasts of Easter and Pentecost, times of mourning with seasons of rejoicing."

~ Maria von Trapp, Around the Year with the Trapp Family

Happy Fat Tuesday, everyone!

*This post is a "rehash" from last year. (It's just so much easier to do that sometimes... especially when I really just don't have anything much to add, ya know?)  

BUT: to update for this year....  As a family, we're giving up the TV and desserts, as always.  I'm going to take the plunge again and give up coffee (I need to, anyway, healthwise), but, since I wear skirts 90% of the time, anyway -- it seems redundant to give up slacks.  I'm not going to set myself up for failure by trying to be up by 7 am this year (I need all the beauty sleep I can get!), but I am giving up my new-found obsession, Pintrest, until Easter.  And, my plans for the blog are to... well, to keep on blogging!  But to find inspirational quotes and beautiful images to go along with them (without using Pintrest!) -- because, seriously -- gotta have something fun to do or I'll go nuts!    

My best wishes to all for a blessed and fruitful Lenten season this year!  Keep on Lenten On!


On the Feast of the Apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes

And with love and prayers to my dear patron, St. Bernadette...
The only known picture of St. Bernadette at the Grotto, taken after the apparitions ended.

The Grotto at Lourdes shortly after the visits from Our Lady; the images of the Blessed Mother  and Bernadette are superimposed.  Still, it is much as it would have looked, if Our Lady could have been seen by eyes other than Bernadette's/


The Grotto at Lourdes in the 1950s, when all the crutches from miraculous healings were still present. 
Mass being offered at the Grotto, sometime in the '50s.

The Lourdes grotto today.
St. Bernadette, to whom Our Lady, under the title of the Immaculate Conception, appeared 18 times in 1858, was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1933.  The approved Lourdes miracles number only 67, those having been investigated officially by the Church, though there have been over 4000 claims of cures.  Sixty-three of the approved cures occurred before 1965; forty-seven before 1950.




Many former posts on St. Bernadette and Lourdes, with links, videos, and coloring pages can be found here!

(* Thirty posts to go!)

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Sunday Afternoon Reminiscing...


1,967 posts since my very first day blogging, in August, 2007!
(Counting down to 2000 posts!)




Proof From the Archives:

PAUL
Happy 20thy Birthday, Paul! Sept 2007
An awful lot of blessings in Paul's life since 2007!
Christmas, 2011


KEVIN
Opinions Needed,  Oct 2008
Kevvy, just as silly as ever... But embarking on all kinds of
exciting career opportunities these days.  He deserves a
blog post all his own sometime soon!
Feast of St. Christopher, July 2012


JONATHAN/ BR. PHILIP
My Big Boys: Focus on Jonathan Charles, Oct 2007



Still our Jon, still the artist, musician, & child-whisperer, but  there's 
more to this young man's depths now than ever...
Formerly Jonathan Charles... May 2012





DOMINIC
Angel - 1: Mountain -0, Oct 2008


Happy Life Changes for Dominic in the last five years or so...
Birthday Boy: Br. Pius Maria, Sept 2011
(Note: Dominic is currently studying at the seminary
as a secular, not a Religious, due to recovering health,
so he's going by "Dominic" again --
 'til further notice, anyway...





MICHELLE







To Michelle, From Mom, June 2008
Shelly/Chicky/Michelle -- still sweet, funny, and now a H.S. graduate! A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words, May 2012



THERESA
How To Catch A Prairie Faerie, April 2008
Theresa, sweet and smart as ever -- but don't mess with her!
Seven: Woke Up This Morning, Feb 2012






CATHY
Cathy! One-armed push ups, Oct 2008
Cathy, as athletic as ever, and now a first-class cook, as well~
Seven... Care Package Day, Feb 2012




ANNA
Little Girls and Tornadoes June 2008


Anna, still a nut -- and "butuflu," too...
Seven Not Very Quick Takes, Nov 2011



GABE
Gabe Goes to College,  Sept 2007
Gabe nowadays, still my little man...
What Would You Do? July 2012





WILLIAM
The Terrorist, Sept 2007
(Found the following and just had to repost it, too....)


Most people call them worms,
But we liked Toddler William's name for them better.  Wiggly Digglies.  (heehee!)
He's still sweet -- and creative.  And still a Terrorist...
In Trouble,  January 2013


(Thirty-one posts to go after this one!)